The Minnesota Vikings took a major swing by drafting J.J. McCarthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. A year later, with a playoff-caliber roster, they chose to move on from Sam Darnold and instead handed the keys to the franchise to McCarthy.
A disastrous 2025 campaign, though, has paved the way for Kyler Murray to take over the starting quarterback role. As a result, one reporter believes it might be the end of the Michigan product’s tenure with the team.
J.J. McCarthy Deserves a Fresh Start
Leading the Wolverines to the national championship, it seemed apparent that head coach Kevin O’Connell was extremely high on him. Unfortunately, injuries kept him out for the entirety of the 2024 season and limited him last year as well.
Starting just 10 games in 2025, he totaled 1,632 passing yards and 11 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. His dual-threat style was a bonus, though, as he added 181 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, while fumbling the ball six times.
Unsurprisingly, he fell to No. 34 (out of 38) on PFN’s Quarterback Impact Metric. Still, the Vikings were willing to give him a fighting chance to keep his starting role ahead of Murray. However, he wasn’t able to keep the role, and right before the preseason, an official choice was made.
Rich Cimini of ESPN believes that demotion might signal the end of McCarthy’s tenure with the Vikings altogether. Making an appearance on the “Jets Collective,” he believed the New York Jets should pursue a trade for the 23-year-old quarterback.
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“I would make that call, I really would,” Cimini said. “I know the young man has obviously struggled a lot, and I think he’s probably done in Minnesota. If they thought there was half a chance they could mould him into something this year, he’d be starting right now.”
.@RichCimini said if he were the #Jets GM, he would make a trade call to the #Vikings about the availability of QB J.J. McCarthy:
“I would make that call, I really would. I know the young man has obviously struggled a lot & I think he’s probably done in Minnesota. If they… pic.twitter.com/Z5M1oJv3K6
— Jets Collective (@NYJetsHMA) August 17, 2026
He wasn’t sure if the organization would be willing to part ways with him two years after drafting him with the 10th overall pick. But Cimini still believed that the Jets needed to try to make it a reality.
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“So I don’t know if they’d be willing to trade him. I don’t think they’ve closed their mind to the idea of trading him, but if I’m [Darren] Mougey, I mean McCarthy has got a lot of raw talent, he’s just raw, he needs developing, but there is talent there.”
Starting two years with Michigan and just 10 games at the NFL level, McCarthy remains a relatively raw prospect. As a result, New York could try to bring the best out of him, particularly after he had two games with a passer rating above 100 in his final four games of the year.
